New Ulm weekly review., 1887-11-16
Concerning Men.

The author OF % ohm Halifax Gentleman
in The Forum sor Septem ber.
I have been asked to write one Of
two papers conveying the opinions of
81 man upon women, and wonaanup-
on men, the reason urged for this be-
Ing 'that a. woman who has for the
purposes Of literary art analyzed the
mind Of men and women, must have
reached valuable conclusions as to
the mutual limitations of each sex,
and its supplementation by the 9th
er." 1t may be SO. One cannot have
written novels tor forty years without
much study and observation of hui
man character, to say nothing OF the
inevitable experience which long life
brings. I may as we'll premise that all
my observations and experience oflife
have confirmed me III one belief; that
while, as q rule. the average woman
is superior to the average man-more
estimable, lovable, nay, often more
capable and reliable-there are excep-
tional men nobler than any woman;
for the simple reason that the mascu-
line nature is larger and stronger, with
wider possibilities for both evil and
good.
All thy passions match d with mine,
Is as moonlight unto sunlight and as wa
ter unto wine,
is a. truth affirmed by wise man,
which should never be ignored in
women's Judgment of men.
- Also, though we find continual ex-
ceptlOns-wOmen as strong as many
man, and men tenderer than most
women-still the creed that "woman
is the lesser man. does, in the main,
hold good, intellectually as we'll as
physically. Morally, I doubt. In
purity, single-m minded ness, unselfsh-
ness, faithfulness, the ordinary man
is distinctly below the ordinary wom-
an. You would have but to look in,
Asmodeus-like, uporSany fifty house
holds OF your acquaintance, compar-
ing the husbands with the wives, the
brothers with the sisters, in their
internal domestic, not their out
side society life, to be pretty sure
that such is the case. But, as | shall
presently show. this Is mainly the
woman's fault. Much as has been
said about the equality of the sexes,
and great as is the indignation OF
some OF us at being considered ':the
weaker SEX" [ am afraid that abso-
lutte equality between men and women
is impossible. Nature herself sets her
face against it. Nature, too, lays
down limits beyond which women, in
the aggregate, cannot pass. She means
them not raj 70
tlon men, but the mothers OF men. I
am old-fashioned enough to believe
that every girls education, mental,
moral, physical, ought to be primar-
lily with a view to wifehood and moth
erhood, the highest and happiest des-
tiny to which any woman can attain.
BUT when Fate denies them this chief
est blessing, as, considering the large
surplus female population in the
world, must often be the case, she still
leaves them the possibility OF being
the spiritual mothers of a new genera
tion- While sufficient to themselves,
able to do their own work in the
world. solitary, but strong, un-
married women may still keep up, as
many an'old maid does keep up, the
naturalmaternalin al instinct, by befriend-
ing or helping all helpless creatures,
and becoming an ennobling influence
to mankind in the aggregate, if not to
the Individual man.
This abstract universal mother i'm
pulse, absent in men Ia man loves his
own children, but seldom any other
man's), lis, | believe, the keynote OF
feminine nature, and has it's roots in
psychological laws distinctfrom those
which belong to the other SEX Man is
made of,muscle and brains; by them
he has to govern The world. His very
selfshness-or say selfsm-his hard
mess and masterfulness, are, in one
sense a necessity, else he would
never be able to fight his way,
and protect those whom he is bound
to protect. But woman's kingdom is
the heart. A woman without tender
mess, without gentleness, without the
power OF self-suppression to an AL
most infinite degree, is a creature so
anomalous that she cannot fail to do
enormous harm, both to her own sex
amd to the other. She ceases to be
the guardian angel she was meant to
be, and becomes d devil in disguise,
working woe wherever she appears.
For many of mems errors women have
themselves to blame. First, their vi
ciousnesss and coarseness; women be-
ing either too ignorant or too coward
iy to exact from men the>same stand.
ard of virtue which men expect from
them. Secondly, their ,tyranny; be-
cause the laws and customs of many
generations have placed women far
too much in the power of men,
and even were it not. so,
their own warm affections
make them slaves. Thirdly, for the
selishmess which-doubtless with
righteous reason-is 50 deeplyimplant-
ed in the masculine breast that a.
thoroughly unselfish man is almost a
lusus nature. And no wonder, since
from his cradle his WON aankind have
o6oro5 h;p,st N,+L,, a,,u,,, -;